Advanced Asphalt Lab Equipment and Facilities

The Advanced Pavement Materials Lab is a research facility located in the Civil Engineering Laboratory Building (CELB) of the College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington. The laboratory is a part of the Civil Engineering Department and includes the equipment below:

Laboratory Head: Stefan Romanoschi, Ph.D., P.E.

Equipment

IPC Global’s UTM-25 Servo-Hydraulic Universal Testing Machine

Flexible and adaptable 25kN capacity dynamic Servo-hydraulic UTM with +-25mm stroke. It has a hydraulic pump and many interchangeable transducers, jigs, fixtures, triaxial cells and accessories. The testing is controlled using an IMACS2 controller. The system is installed in a temperature chamber that maintains temperatures between -10°C to +50°C for extended periods. It meets the requirements of the most important test standards and draft test standards for asphalt, unbound materials and soils.

Four Point Bend Test for UTM 25

The device performs the Four Point Bend test on UTM-25. It subjects an asphalt specimen to four point bending with backlash free rotation and horizontal translation of all load and reaction points following a sinusoidal or haversine controlled strain or controlled stress loading. It has controlled force and motorized specimen clamping which operate continuously during the test.

DWT Universal Double Wheel Tracker

The AASHTO/EN version of the Double Wheel Tracker for Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) is used to evaluate the rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility of asphalt pavement following AASHTO standards. The two wheels trave: 230 mm at 20 to 30 cycles/min. The wheel load is 700N. The temperature range in the water bath is up to 80°C, ± 0.5°C. Rut depth transducers measure up to 50 mm depth with 0.01 mm accuracy.

Instrotek SmartLoader

It is a 50 kN Load System with automatic load and displacement control The loading rate can be varied between 0.01 to 51 mm/min or 1 to 15000 N/min. Accessories include a 6 in. (152.4 mm) Lottman breaking head, a 4 in. (101.6 mm) Marshall breaking head, a SCB test fixture with 10 kN load cell adapter and an Ideal RT testing jig.

Pine Test Equipment’s G2 Superpave Gyratory Compactor

It compacts 150- and 100-mm diameter specimens ( hot asphalt mix or soil) at a constant pressure and angle of gyration. It gyrates at a fixed speed using an electromechanical system with integrated controls and angle of gyration measurement. Users define compaction mode, specimen size, number of gyrations, target height, pressure, and angle of gyrations using the control panel.

MATEST - Superpave Gyratory Compactor

It is used to simulate and reproduce the real compaction conditions under actual road paving operations, hence determining the compaction properties of the asphalt. The compaction is achieved in a fully automatic way, by combining the rotary action and the vertical resultant force applied by a mechanical head. Load is applied by an electro-pneumatic cylinder, servo-controlled by a precision pressure regulator; the height is measured by a linear transducer. Gyratory motion is generated by an eccentric high-precision system, allowing an easy set-up with precision and a constant angle of gyration.;

Anton Paar MCR301 Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR)

The MCR 301 is a rotational rheometer designed for measuring the rheological properties of materials. It is capable of performing a variety of measurements, including shear, oscillation, and creep tests, to characterize the flow and deformation behavior of liquids, pastes, and other complex fluids.

ATS Bending Beam Rheometer 2S (BBR2S)

The system is engineered to perform flexural tests on asphalt binder/bitumen and similar specimens per AASHTO T 313, AASHTO TP 87, ASTM D6648, specifications. These tests consist of a constant force being applied to a specimen in a chilled bath to derive specific rates of deformation at various temperatures.

GRIEVE Bench Oven and Gilson Superpave Over

GRIEVE - Up to 400°F (204.4°C) Maximum Temperature, Large Volume 36 ft³ (1.01 m³)

Gilson - 450°F Maximum with analog control, 7.0ft^³ (0.2 m³) Bench Oven

ABS Temperature Cabinet

The cabinet uses a digital microprocessor temperature controller for precise control betewwne 68°F - 77°F (20°C - 25°C) range.

The volume is 49 ft³

ADMET eXpert 2613

The dual-column table-top Universal Electromechanical Testing System has a 50KN load capacity. The movement is controlled by the MTESTQuatro Controller & Software. It also has a 50kN load cell, 50kN capacity grips and one external extensometer.

Accelerated Pavement Testing Facility at the University of Texas at Arlington

Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) is generally defined as “a controlled application of a realistic wheel loading to a pavement system simulating long-term, in-service loading conditions”. This can be accomplished through the use of a test track with actual traffic and/or a specialized load frame that applies an adjustable weighted load in a linear or circular setup. This allows the monitoring of a pavement system’s performance and response to accumulation of damage within a short time frame. Such information is critical to support informed highway planning, policy and decision making. Experience has shown that APT testing can produce quick, cost-effective, reliable, and beneficial/practical results while also improving the understanding of pavement technology in predicting pavement system performance.

The APT program at the University of Texas at Arlington was established in 2013 in Fort Worth Campus of the University. The APT loading device used is the Pavement Testing Machine (PTM) machine which is a transportable linear device capable of applying single axle loads up to a nominal 162KN (36,000lbs) in uni-directional and bi-directional modes, at speeds up to 8km/h (5mph). Dual tires inflated to 100 psi are normally used during testing, but super-single tires can be fitted as well. The test pavement length on which the speed of the axle is constant is 6m (20ft) with optional transverse wander over 0.9m (36 in.). Up to 600 axle loads can be applied in one hour in bi-directional mode. The PTM can load two flexible pavement sections simultaneously, with one half-axle loading each section, while rigid pavements are loaded with the entire axle.

Up to thirty experimental pavement sections, 22 m (75 ft) long and 2.4m (8ft wide) can be built and tested at the facility. A fully enclosed environmental control chamber fitted with cooling and heating units is used for temperature control. If needed, the PTM can be easily transported to remote test sites to conduct testing of existing pavement sections.

Accelerated Pavement Testing Facility at the University of Texas at Arlington

Administration

Melanie Sattler, PhD, PE
Dr. Syed Qasim Endowed Professor and Chair
NH 406

Shih-Ho Chao, PhD, PE
ACPA Tom Wheelan Endowed Professor and Associate Chair for Research and Graduate Studies
NH 407

Arpita Bhatt, PhD
Associate Professor of Instruction, Associate Chair for Student Success
NH 336

Civil Engineering Staff